Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Chapter 24. Saving Time with Macros

You perform many of the same actions in Project day after day (sometimes several times each day). Like doing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, and washing the cat on the delicate cycle, some repetitive tasks are unavoidable—but timesaving tools sure would help. Instead of hiring a personal assistant to take the drudgery out of your Project work, you can write handy mini-programs called macros.

You don’t have to be a geek to write your own macros. You can create a macro simply by recording the steps you want the macro to perform. Then you can run the macro to replay the steps again and again. The geeky project managers in the audience can build upon recorded macros by editing them in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).

This chapter explains macro basics: recording them, running them, adding them to the ribbon, and tying them to keyboard shortcuts. You can even create full-strength custom solutions if you’re up for it. And if you’re a programmer wannabe, you’ll also find resources for learning more about programming in Project.

What You Can Do with Macros

A macro does one thing really well—it performs a series of steps each time you run it. For example, you can record a macro that hides summary tasks, turns on the critical path, and then sorts tasks by Duration in descending order. Macros are great timesavers because they can perform the equivalent of dozens of mouse clicks and key presses almost instantaneously. Moreover, macros reduce mistakes because ...